Broken - Kowasu
by KanzanshinoKobashitonoKekyoku
Summary: Unwanted, despised, scorned, hated, etc... That was what he was, that was what he thought. Now, he's trying once again to run away. What greets him when he finally escapes from his cell is...
1. Broken

Disclaimer: Not mine.

* * *

**Broken**

Broken,

He was broken.

Betrayed by his most trusted

Thrown out by his beloved

Scorned by most

An unwanted child

An accident.

Broken child he is

Broken child he'll be

Crying in despair

Receiving scathing glares.

Unheeded pain came from his mouth,

Anguished hollers,

Miserable screeches,

Tormented yells,

All fell on deaf ears.

He was once wanted

He was once loved

He was once whole

Now,

He's nothing

Nothing, but a broken doll

A broken, emotionless doll.

Hidden in a shell,

Dumped into an endless well,

Protected by a tall wall,

He doesn't want to be broken,

He doesn't want to be crying,

Screaming,

and Howling

in Desperation.

He wanted to be loved,

He wanted to be cherished,

He wanted to be protected,

He wanted to be happy,

But,

He realized.

He can't,

He can't have,

Can't obtain,

Can't possess,

Any of those things.

He's depreciated

Hated,

Despised,

Detested,

Loathed,

Shunned,

Disparaged,

and Scorned.

He was nothing to _them._

He won't be anything to _them._

He's **nothing**,

He won't be **anything**,

He _can't be_ **anything.**

Even to himself,

He's worthless,

Unneeded,

And shouldn't have been born.

Broken

A broken child he is

A broken child he'll be.

He is

A broken child.


	2. Escape

Disclaimer: KHR's not mine.

* * *

He _needed _to escape! And fast! They will only be out for a little while, they'll come back before long. He needs to hurry! Faster, faster!

The little boy, no older than 7 years of age, continued to struggle with the binds on his wrist. He had unruly brunet hair, along with large chocolate brown eyes filled with terror and fear that a kid of his age shouldn't have known. He also had many bruises,scars, burns, etc., littered all over his little body which was only covered by a torn piece of white cloth that resembled a gown. He had no shoes on too which exposed all the cuts on his feet that were chained up to the wall.

As the boy progresses on his objective of freeing his hands, he heard the door upstairs opening. They're back! The brunet quickly abandoned what he was doing to lay down on the cold, hard floor and pretended to sleep. The boy was very stiff and couldn't relax at all, fearing what was about to come. Though after a while, the boy started to relax because there didn't seem to be any signs of anybody coming down to the basement. Then suddenly the boy could hear signs of someone approaching the hidden door and trying to open it. In the end, the person didn't seem able to open the door and left it. So, they weren't back yet. It may be some burglar trying to steal something, or i-it may be one of _those people _again! Those scary men in black suits with guns! N-no, not-

Before the young child could finish that thought, he heard an unexpected bang on the basement door. The bangs came again and again. Before long, without warning, the door at the top of the stairs was blasted open. At the top stood a young Italian boy in his early teens. The teenager had unruly black hair that was hidden under a fedora, along with curly sideburns framing each side of his face. He was wearing a white, long-sleeved, dress shirt with black dress pants and shiny, black dress shoes. The look should have looked too mature on him, making him look like an awkward teen who was trying to imitate an adult, but instead it actually suited him pretty well. The teen also had a menacing aura around him that seemed to threaten everyone who would even go near a ten feet radius from him.

The scary raven then proceeded to descend the stairs after staring into the darkness for a little bit. When he reached the bottom of the steps, he smelled something. That something smelled oddly like... Like blood. After inhaling that scent, the teen became wary and cautious of his surroundings. He peered into the dark abyss surrounding him that was actually the basement.

The little boy from before was laying stock still on the floor, not daring to move even an inch, in fear of the person who came down the basement noticing him. The person could harm him. He can't let them notice him. He can't... He continued to stay in the fetal position for quite a while, until he heard the person walking. The young boy froze on his spot on the ground, thinking that he had been found out and that the person was going towards him. When he realized that the person was actually walking away from him and heading for the stairs, he let out a soft sigh of relief. Abruptly, the person stopped and turned to the direction the brunet was in.

The teen walked stealthily to the direction he heard the quiet sigh from, cocking his gun along the way. The _thing, _or _person _even, most likely heard the sound of the gun's trigger and gasped, loudly this time. As the Italian walked closer, he could see that on the floor, chained and bound, was a child. An abused child, who seemed to be of Japanese descent. The brunet, with emotionless eyes, eyed the weapon in his hand warily. Hurriedly, the teen put his gun away so as to not scare the child further.

"Who are you?" The armed boy asked the child that was on the floor. The younger kid just stared at him blankly, seemingly not understanding what he was saying. The teen sighed, now this was troublesome. He was just here to collect some information for a job that he accepted. He never expected to find an abused child here. Now, what was he going to do? Report this to the police? Nah, that's just stupid. He, himself is already a wanted criminal. Leave him here? That would be the best and least bothersome choice, but... Really, he was a criminal but he wasn't heartless. So this is what he'll do, free the child and just let him do what he wants. Either the child survives or dies later on won't matter to him, he can't bring the kid along with him anyways.

Thus, the teen brought out a small pocket knife and was about to go and cut the brunet's bindings when he suddenly lashed out at him. The knife was then knocked out of his hand when the kid somehow managed to slash the knife towards him and cut him. As the knife hit the floor, the younger kid, who was still on the ground, scrambled to reach for it. But before he could even get a hold of the knife, it was knocked out of his reach by a black shoe. The kid glanced up at the face of the shoe's owner. He could see the older boy glowering at him, causing him to shrink back unconsciously in fear. He then spotted the bloodied hand because of what he did. He didn't mean to harm the raven, he was just terrified that he was going to harm him and he just lashed out in reflex. H-he didn't want to hurt him. H-he j-just didn't want to be hurt even more. The brunet was about to have his mind shut down again when he heard the voice of the teen speak in a sort-of-gentle tone, like he never spoke gently before.

"Hey, look here. I'm sorry for scaring you, 'kay? Now just let me get those chains and ropes off of you." The raven hurriedly spoke in a gentle tone that he tried to imitate from a precious friend of his when he saw tears welling in the younger child's eye. This time when the spiky haired raven approached the boy, albeit warily, he wasn't attacked. He went on to cutting the ropes binding the child's hands. The ropes were cut so his hands weren't bound together anymore but the ropes around his wrists were still on there because it's too tight and if they just use that pocket knife to cut it, the knife might cut him. After that, the teenage criminal took out his gun and shot at the younger child's chains so that it would be broken. The chains weren't attached to the wall anymore, but the cuffs around his feet were still on since they didn't have the key to open it. But wait! The raven just remembered that he could use a bobby pin to pick the locks open. He then searched for a bobby pin but came up with nothing. In the end, after freeing the captive, who looked very malnourished, the dark haired boy advanced towards the stair and left the broken boy behind.

The freed child looked longingly at the older boy's back, wanting to go with him. But he won't. He's not wanted, not needed, a troublesome mistake. He would only be a bother to the teen if he tagged along with him. In the end he'll be scorned and hated by him too, like all the others before him. It's better like this. This way, he won't be troubling someone and he'll save himself the later heartache. It's better to keep this wall up, and lock his drowning heart away. It's better...

So with the thought that he isn't needed and that he doesn't need anyone he escapes from his personal Hell and into the dark and dangerous streets of Italy...


	3. Meeting

Disclaimer: My fic, but no owns KHR.

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He first saw the kid around when he was trying to run away from his gigantic workload. G kept nagging him to do his work, but who in their right mind would stay cooped up in an office for hours on end to do paperwork because some of his guardians were just having _little sparring sessions _that destroyed half of the mansion on good days and whole cities on bad days. Oh no, Giotto so wasn't going to spend his time slaving away for something that he guardians did. Uh, uh. Not possible.

Now, getting back to the Japanese kid with blank eyes. They really disclosed no emotion whatsoever, huh. Seems like there's a protective shield up and around him. Well... Giotto's not really sure what to make of that. Anyways, the kid is... an odd kid. He had frayed ropes tied around his wrists and there were shackles cuffed onto his ankles, that's weird. Is he an escaped slave? Or was he a prisoner that escaped? There's many children nowadays that work for the mafia so that's not much of a surprise if something like that happens. But surprisingly the kid hasn't been taken back yet. It doesn't seem like there were disturbances around here, other than the usual, so maybe he came from another country? He does look Japanese and not a bit like an Italian. Though, as they say, don't judge a book by its cover, so Giotto'll never know if that's true or not. Thus, he'll just assume the kid's an orphan. It's better to not judge before you know anything.

Putting that aside, the kid was skinny, too skinny for Giotto's liking. Sure, there were many other orphaned children on the streets of Italy, but Giotto has never seen one in a condition as bad as that kid's. The kid had bruises, scrapes, and burns all over his body. Most of the other kids aren't even in nearly such a bad condition, since most of them are in the orphanage that Vongola funds, but they usually escape and have to be coaxed into going back. It seems that they escape because they didn't like to rely on others and only found themselves more reliable because they think that they took care of themselves just alright. Or it was for some other childish reason. Even though Giotto says that those are childish reasons, he himself understands the children in the orphanage and knows that it really isn't as childish as it sounds. He was once an orphan himself and understands that the children, who had no support ever since they were young, was just scared of strangers who didn't know them at all helping them. If they trusted those kind strangers they might be betrayed and abandoned once again. They're just broken children who needs love, and Giotto understands that. That's the reason for the orphanage, he wants the children to be able to trust and believe again. The children who aren't in the orphanage are usually persuaded by people who work in the orphanage to go there. Giotto personally picked those workers in the orphanage and could attest to their kind personalities and their love for children. He even had a dorm for the workers at the orphanage so they could stay there and watch the children. Hence the reason Giotto thought that the kid would have been coerced into the orphanage by someone, but as days and weeks passed Giotto could still see the child wandering the streets.

At last, not being able to stand seeing such a malnourished child just going around like that, Giotto went up to the child, determined to sway the brunet kid to go to the orphanage.

"Hey!" Giotto called out to the kid, who was sitting at the edge of the fountain in the town square, cheerily. It seemed like Giotto startled the kid, because the next second that Giotto looked to where the kid was, no one was there. Except, there was a loud splash in the fountain and bubbles were floating up to the surface. When Giotto peered into the fountain, he could see the little brunet struggling to right himself in the water. So Giotto extended his hand into the water to help the brunet up. Surprisingly, when Giotto grasped onto the kid's arm he started to struggle even more than before and even escaped from him! Now, when was the last time that a kid escaped from him, Giotto can't even remember anymore.

Watching the young child, Giotto saw him wade to the other side of the fountain and get out, dripping wet. Giotto then rounded to the side that the child was on and held out a handkerchief to him, but the brunet just looked at him blankly before he stared at the handkerchief in Giotto's hand. Giotto, guessing that the kid didn't understand that he was suppose to take it, took it upon himself and started to reach for the kid to dry him up. When the brown eyed boy understood what the older person was going to do, he dodged out of the man's range in reaching him. Again, the kid surprised Giotto with his fast movements. But Giotto was concerned, the kid's eyes that were usually blank would become wary and cautious when people get too close to him. And, beneath the watchful eyes was well hidden fear. Not to mention, though it was barely noticeable, Giotto could see the shaking of the small shoulders. Someone must have done something to the brunet to cause him to act like that towards others. It's like he can't understand kindness or even anything relatively nice that's offered to him. He's also afraid of it, like he can't accept it. He doesn't want to accept it.

"Are you okay? Are you cold? Is somewhere hurting?" Giotto shot questions at the small child anxiously. Those questions meant more than the obvious. He was also asking about the brunet's mentality, feelings, and the reasons as to his silent scream for help. Giotto could see the message as clear as the sky when he stares into the depths of those dead brown eyes. He really wishes he could somehow help this kid.

Still though, the child returned to staring at Giotto blankly, seemingly not understanding what he was saying. Giotto thought that maybe because the kid was Japanese he didn't understand Italian? So Giotto tried conversing with the kid in Japanese, he learned it from Asari. But in the end, it didn't seem like the kid understood him either way. Consequently, Giotto decided to call up his guardians, not knowing what to do with the child. Though he has to choose carefully. Asking Daemon to help would only worsen the situation, he may even mentally scar the kid for life. Alaude wouldn't even want to bother with helping since he won't be interested. Lampo, nah, too much of a brat. Knuckles may be too loud and scare the kid away.G... maybe, if he doesn't blow and start throwing colorful words everywhere. Asari would be a good choice... maybe... if his too shiny and sunny smiles don't make the child feel uncomfortable.

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That man -teen, boy, whatever- was weird. He had unkempt blond hair and beautiful sunset colored eyes that always attracted a lot of attention. Although the man always had a kind aura around him whenever he went into town, there was just a scary feeling to him. He always talked to everyone in town and was friendly towards everyone, even to the kids who were always playing pranks on him. He even helps strangers that he just met on the street and the brunet knows that for a fact. One time he saw the blond start a conversation with someone who just came into town and he even lent him some money when he heard the situation of the man's wife being sick and needed money to pay the hospital bill. That was just plain idiocy in the brunet's opinion because the man could have been lying about it and the money that the blond lent to the man was not a small sum. The brunet boy just didn't understand. How could someone be so kind like that to everyone? It just doesn't make sense, because the blond doesn't even get mad at those children, only chasing them with mock irritation and anger. Those kind of people are scary to the brunet though. The altruistic ones are always the scariest...

"Hey" Startled by the call, the brunet fell into the fountain and started to struggle for air when he couldn't find the strength to pull himself back to the surface. Suddenly, a hand came and grabbed onto him. The brunet boy, remembering times from when he was held captive, started to flail and finally got out of the grip of the person who was trying to get him. As he got out of the water he could see that it was the kind, but scary, person that he sometimes saw around town. When the blond went around the fountain and showed him a handkerchief he didn't know what to do with it. Was he suppose to take it? But then what would he do with it? The blond saw him not showing any kind of motion towards the handed out item so he advanced towards him. When he saw that the blond was trying to reach for him again, he jumped out of reach, scared to be touched by anyone.

Out of nowhere the person with sunset eyes asked, "Are you okay? Are you cold? Is somewhere hurting?" Understanding only parts of it, but grasping what it meant, the brunet child started to shut his mind down. He won't let anyone in anymore. No one can hurt him anymore and he's not a bother to _them _anymore. So it's okay just to leave him alone. He's just fine. He doesn't want others in. Why even bother with someone like him? He's the personification of mayhem. Nothing good comes out of interacting with him. People should just stay away. He's fine without them anyways... right?

* * *

When Asari saw Giotto, the teen was panicking and practically jumping up and down like a freakin' monkey. Okay, that wasn't a great analogy, and Asari knows it, but it works so deal with it.

At first when Giotto called him, Asari thought that it was weird because Giotto was suppose to be in his office doing paperwork, unless he snuck out again. While contemplating that, Asari answered the phone call unconsciously and what greeted him was Giotto's frantic voice screaming his head off, asking about what he should do. He was asking a kid if he was okay after seeing him fall into the fountain and suddenly the kid collapsed! So they decided to meet at the edge of the forest, that leads the path into the Vongola Mansion, to see what to do with the kid. It wasn't like they could actually just bring the kid into the hospital with no identification whatsoever and just bringing the kid into the Vongola Mansion could cause a lot of trouble.

"Calm down, Giotto. Breathe in. Out. In. Out." Asari said to placate Giotto. After Giotto composed himself, Asari finally decided that he would have his curiosity about that child leaning on the tree sated.

"Okay, so who is that child? Really, I mean it, don't lie to me Giotto." Said Asari with a serious expression that's rarely seen on the rain guardian's face. Even though he just took one look at the child, he could see that he was in a pretty bad condition. He needs to know what really happened to him.

"I-I really don't know!" Shouted Giotto desperately. He just wanted to help the kid and he still does. There's something seriously wrong with that kid and Giotto only realized _how _different the kid was from the others when the kid collapsed. The scrapes and bruises that littered the kid's body weren't just regular bruises from either playing around and falling or trying to steal and being chased and beaten, which was what Giotto first assumed. Those bruises were serious beatings that were meant to be excruciatingly painful. There were also the _burns! _Oh my- _those burns! _Those weren't just first degree burns! They were bordering second degrees or were on the second degree! Whoever did this to the child is unforgivable!

"Calm, Giotto. Calm. You're staring to hyperventilate, and that won't do any good to the child. Calm, and explain the situation. If not, we can't help him." Asari said soothingly to Giotto. If Asari wants to help, he needs Giotto to explain the situation without getting an asthma attack.

After that Giotto collected himself and was about to start explaining what he found to his friend when he realized that something was amiss. So he turned to look at where he left the kid a-and-

"T-the kid..." Giotto said pointing to where he left the kid, with Asari turning his head towards that direction too.

"H-he's GONE!?" Asari screamed.

* * *

When the brunet came out from his brain shut down, he saw that he was in an unfamiliar place. He was surrounded by trees and nature. It felt very nice at where he was. Then he started to wonder where he was and how he got there. Out of nowhere, he suddenly heard voices talking and turned his head towards that direction. There was two people standing and talking to each other. Well, really one was trying to calm the other frantic one down. Wait, isn't the panicking one the weird blond? So he was the one that brought him here? Still, it seems like the poor guy was hyperventilating and it was... all... because of... him...? Does he have to cause trouble for someone even when he 's not even doing anything? Will he always only be a bother? Is he going to get scorned later on because of this? H-he doesn't want to have anything to do with that. No, nothing to do with those people at all.

So, the brunet chose to run away again and not reach out for someone, something, to grasp on just because he felt that he didn't deserve it. Yeah... H-he doesn't deserve it...


	4. Tsunayoshi Vongola

Disclaimer: My fic, not my anime or manga.

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The brunet continued to run and run. He didn't even look to where he was going. He just continued on and on and on... Not stopping, just wanting to get away from people. Get away from the fact that he's hurting and that h-he always causes others to hurt too. He didn't want to face that fact. He didn't want to know that fact, but he does, and that was shoved right into his face countless times. He doesn't want to relive those painful times. He was finally free and not a burden to _them _anymore, so why couldn't he just have a little peace of mind!? He doesn't want to cause anyone trouble He doesn't want to be the source of people's pains. He just- just wanted to live without being a bother to others. Is that really so much to ask for?

* * *

All the while, two teenagers were frantically trying to find a certain brunet.

"Do you have any idea of where he might've went, Giotto?" Asari questioned the panicking blond.

"An inkling, but it's just my gut feeling, and let's hope it really isn't where I think it is." Giotto replied as he hurried towards the location as to where the kid might be at.

"Heh, your so-called hyper intuition, I suppose? Well, it's helped us many times before, no harm in believing it once more." Asari said lightly to the running teen.

As they kept on running, Asari finally realized where it was that Giotto was heading towards. He now understood why Giotto had hoped that the child won't be here. They were going to the Cliffs, a dangerous area at the edge of the forest that surrounds the Vongola mansion. For that matter it's not just dangerous there, it's very dangerous. The place is exactly as the name depicts, it's a location full of cliffs with a raging ocean right beneath it. The land over there is pretty loose, and one wrong step could have you plummeting down into the depths of the waters below with sharp rocks stabbing into your body. Now that gotta hurt, not to mention you might easily die if you're not trained since the Cliffs is close to the place where the guardians sometimes train at, so there are traps placed around random places near the Cliffs. Asari has faith in Giotto's intuition, but he fervently wishes that just for this once Giotto is wrong. If something happened to that child... Oh no, Asari doesn't even want to think about what Giotto would start doing, to himself and others. One time when a child from the orphanage was hurt because of him, Giotto locked himself in his room for over a month and when he came out he was a zombie! What happened afterwards... Asari doesn't even want to recall it!

When they finally reached the Cliffs Giotto's foreboding feeling suddenly became a massive headache, causing him to suddenly kneel down on the grassy land with a hand holding his head. Asari was worried about him, but something else caught his attention. A small hand was gripping the edge of a cliff close to the pair. Asari went right into action and rushed towards the small hand, but was careful as to where he stepped to avoid the traps and soft ground which may crumble if he put too much force on it. As he reached the hand, he could see that Giotto's intuition was right -as always- and he would have groaned if the situation wasn't so serious.

The hand that was hanging on the edge of the cliff was connected to the brunet boy that Giotto brought with him from before. Peculiarly, the boy wasn't panicking at all. For that matter, the boy kept a blank face even as he turned his face upwards to look at Asari. Though what was even more strange was that when Asari stretched his hand out to help the boy, he shrank away from him and fear started to seep into the once blank eyes.

Asari smiled kindly and said, "Come on, grab my hand. I won't hurt you."

Still though, the child attained an apprehensive look when he heard those words slip from the teen's mouth. The little boy didn't believe Asari and that was easily seen from the stiffened shoulders and wary look that the brunet carried. Asari found this to be very worrying, if the boy didn't hurry and grab his arm he might fall. But what caused him more concern were the frighteningly empty eyes that seem to hide something. Something painful, something dreadful, something that broke the innocence of this young boy.

Asari, deciding to try again, said this to the boy gently. "Please, it'll be okay. Grab my hand. If not, you'll fall."

The brunet once again looked at Asari with emotionless eyes after understanding that Asari won't forcefully go and grab him. The cold eyes unnerved Asari. It's actually pretty understandable now as to why Giotto was so worried about the boy that he brought the brunet with him, but there seems to be more to that... That was when Asari saw it. On the tiny hand gripping onto the cliff were bruises and cuts. That's normal for orphans who roam the streets, but- But those weren't just normal injuries. Those were marks of beatings! Then he spotted what was on the child's back, since his torn up gown was sliding off his shoulders. T-those blemishes on his back! They were burns! Asari was horrified, how dare anyone do that to a child! Now the rain guardian is more determined than ever to help this little boy.

"Can you hold onto my hand? It's okay now, alright? No one will hurt you, so can you take my hand?" Asari steadily inched out his hand to the smaller boy, hoping that he won't shrink away this time and actually reach for his hand. When the boy continued to stare at Asari blankly, the teen started to panic because it seemed like the brunet was trying to retreat to the recesses of his mind. If the child does that then he'll shut down and won't be able to hold onto the cliff anymore! So Asari hurriedly made a decision. He leaned further down from where he was so could go and make a grab at the child, but the kid seemed to have suddenly snapped out of his trance-like state. When he saw that Asari was trying to take hold of him, out of fear, the brunet struggled and his hold on the cliff loosened.

Asari tried reaching for the brunet but missed him. Then he saw the rope attached to the boy's hand and gripped onto it. It might hurt the boy but it's the only way for him to actually save the child now. He secured his hold on the rope and sought to pull the child up and he did get to pull the blank child up a little but alas, his position on the cliff allowed him no such leverage and he couldn't pull the brunet up without having the earth beneath him crumble. Thus Asari continued to just to grip onto the rope hardly, hoping that he could save the young boy. Asari then swiftly looked over the boy to check how well he was holding up. He saw that the boy was trembling ever so slightly and that terror started to seep into those blank amber eyes.

Wanting to reassure the boy Asari spoke, "It'll be okay. I'll save you. So it's okay."

The boy didn't seem to have registered what Asari had said to him and instead appeared to be deep in thought. Then the boy's face promptly changed into one of distress, pain, and torment all mushed together. Before long it seemed that the boy finally accepted what was happening and the panic came. Along with the brunet's renewed struggling and Asari's slippery hold on the already frayed rope combined with the brunet's weight under the rope, well let's just say they heard 'Snap!' and everything went downhill.

* * *

He was falling! He was going to die! N-no! He doesn't want to die! N-no! He's scared! He really shouldn't have just kept running like that and not watch where he was going, now look at where he is! Falling down at least 2000 ft and meeting the sharp rocks down there. B-but wait... I-if it's like this then he wouldn't be a bother anymore. He wouldn't cause trouble anymore. He'd be completely free too...

Then his wrist felt like it was burning. He looked up to see what was happening and saw the man with black hair was clutching onto his bindings connected to his wrist. The raven looked as if he himself was about to fall off the cliff too which scared the brunet. He doesn't want the man to fall! He'll die along with him! No! He was a burden to people when he was living, he doesn't want to be a burden to other when he's going to die too! The man should just let go of him then he won't have to die for someone as useless as him. B-but the brunet is afraid of death. Even though all of the things he went through is considered terrible in others' eyes, it was acceptable for him because he was raised to believe that he deserved it. He was even told that he deserved death handed to him because he was a mistake and not needed. Still though, the little kid is afraid of death because he has never experienced it before. H-he doesn't want to die! N-NO!

Since he started struggling because of his internal thoughts, the already frayed rope broke. All the boy heard was a 'Snap!' before his world was turned all around and upside down. Oddly, this time the boy really is falling and no one would be able to reach him, but he is calm. Strangely so, but he is and there's this sort of peace that's coursing throughout his whole being. It's okay now, no one will be able to hurt him anymore...

Abruptly, the seemingly emotionless child was pulled out of his thoughts and was thrown right back into reality. The blond man from before was flying towards him! As the blond reached him he held out his arms and grabbed onto the man. That was when he finally realized that he didn't want to die. He was scared to die, s-so scared! Tears unconsciously pooled in the boy's eyes and slid down the sides of his face. Just as the blond and him reached safe ground he started bawling his eyes out and clutched onto the front of the blond's shirt. The two exhausted teens present just looked at him helplessly, not knowing what to do with such a child. When the crying was toned down to only sniffles, everything suddenly became awkward.

"So, what do we do now?" Asari asked Giotto, intending to break the tense atmosphere surrounding them.

Without thought or consideration Giotto said, with a smile, "Let's bring him with us to live in the mansion!"

Asari was not in the least surprised that Giotto said that, although he was a bit exasperated at Giotto's carefree attitude and decision. So, with a defeated sigh, but also with a smile Asari asked, "What will you tell the others?"

And just as expected, Giotto forgot about them so he said, "Ah, we'll deal with it when the time comes." Then he stood up and continued, "Well, we need to know this kid's name cause we just can't keep calling him kid or something."

Asari decided to take it upon himself to ask what the child's name was, but received no answer from the once again blank and emotionless boy. "Ah, what should we do? He won't talk to us and if we come even just a tiny bit closer he starts to get scared, just like a frightened little animal." Asari said with a dejected tone and crestfallen face. The little boy, seeing that he caused someone to be unhappy just because he didn't say anything started to feel guilty because these people _did indeed _save his life.

Maybe, just maybe, it's okay to let these people in. M-maybe it's okay to trust them. So with that thought in mind, the brunet moved closer to the man sitting seiza on the grass and clapped his hands onto the man's face to get his attention. When the man, Asari, looked up at the brunet with surprise and shock, the young child thought he did something wrong and started to shrink away, letting his hand fall to his sides.

The teens smiled at the kid's display of care. Then Giotto went to the kid and knelt in front of him, startling the younger boy. "Can you tell us what your name is?"

The kid was taken aback by these weird people, but they felt warm. It's kind of nice to feel like this. But they want to know his name. H-he doesn't know how to answer that. What if because he can't answer it, these people start hating him? What will they do to him then?

The boy then looked up to see the face of the blond staring intently at him, but there was kindness in his eyes. So the boy decided to risk it and actually responded this time with a shake of his head. Then he spoke! He really spoke out loud! Albeit his voice was raspy like he hadn't used it in years, but he spoke! "I-I d-don't r-remember it..." He stuttered and trailed off, looking timid. The two other people present were very surprised. The boy spoke, and in Italian nonetheless. He also showed showed some emotion, although it was only looking timid, he showed some emotion!

Asari could tell that the boy was of Japanese descent and he asked if the boy knew Japanese. The child responded with a stuttered and quiet 'Y-yes.' Right then and there Giotto thought of the name that he should give to the child. "I know what your name will be!" Shouted Giotto out of nowhere, startling the conversing pair and scaring the brunet.

"Giotto, don't shout like that so suddenly, you'll scare the child." Asari chided his friend lightly.

Giotto looked sheepish but he continued on, "I'm sorry. It's just that I got too excited when I was thinking of things to name the kid."

"Oh, and what will his name be then?" Asari asked, his interest piqued.

"Well, since he's Japanese and all I thought that he should have a Japanese name." Giotto started.

"Yes, yes and so? What will his name be?" Asari asked Giotto, wanting to know what the child's name will be.

"Tsunayoshi Vongola!" Giotto told Asari with triumph like he accomplished something great.

"Why?" Asari asked, perplexed.

"Because 'Tsunayoshi' means 'Lucky Rope'. And since it was the rope around Tsunayoshi's hands that let you catch him before he dropped it's good luck! If you hadn't caught onto the rope, and my headache still continued, we wouldn't have been able to save Tsunayoshi! So the rope is lucky. That's why his name should be Tsunayoshi Vongola!" Giotto finished.

"Though why 'Vongola' as his last name?" Questioned Asari.

"Well, since he also knows how to speak Italian and we're in Italy, I thought that he should have an Italian last name. It's not like any of us has actually have a last name that's Italian so I decided to give him the last name Vongola because the Vongola is one whole big family and he'll soon be part of our family!" Giotto said with a wide smile on his lips, ready to split his face in half.

"Ah, what logic is that? But yeah, Tsunayoshi Vongola, it's a good name. Still, isn't the first name a little long to say? Why don't we shorten it to Tsuna, as a nickname of course." Asari added.

The two teens then turned towards the child in question who was just standing and watching the two older boys talk. "Do you like that name?" Giotto and Asari asked the brunet in unison. The child looked at the two with an undefined emotion in his eyes before he nodded his head yes.

"Okay Tsuna, let's go home now alright?" Giotto said, stretching his hand out to hold Tsuna's hand.

"Yeah, it's getting dark now. Oh, Giotto. I forgot to mention this earlier but G told me to relay this to you. 'If you don't get your butt back here in half an hour, your hidden stash of sweets will be gone.'" Asari said with a smile as he took hold of Tsuna's other hand.

"Oh no! Not my sweets!" Shrieked Giotto as he took Tsuna and carried him in his arms while running towards the mansion. Asari was running just behind him with a smile on his face, but there were many questions about Tsuna that he had. Though it's okay. Tsuna's part of the family now, he'll have time to figure it out later. Right now, he just wants to get home, eat dinner, take a bath, and get a restful sleep. Today has been a long day.

All the while heading towards the mansion, many things were running through Tsuna's head. Is he wanted now? Will he be loved by these people? Is he going to be apart of their big family? Will he fit in? Will he be troublesome? What will happen now? He hopes he'll be able to be of some use to these kind people, but does it really matter all that much? Being with these people allowed a strange warmth that he hadn't felt for years blossom in his chest. If being with these kind people will let him feel like that, then maybe it's okay to really trust them? But what will happen if that's a wrong decision to make? H-he's scared of that. So very much. Then Giotto suddenly tightened his hold around Tsuna, embracing him in a safe manner. Maybe it won't be like that. Maybe... Anyway, right now, he just wants to snuggle into the warm and strong chest and fall asleep, not worrying about anything outside of his dream world. Maybe everything will be okay. Maybe...


End file.
